iNeed Help
Disclaimers: I don't own 'iCarly' or any of those characters, nor Dennis Blunden. I used a lot of real names to make my supporting cast. I even borrowed a quote from Tom Clancy. I don't know what the real back-story with Carly's mom is, so I made one up, along with her maiden name. In this story, there is references made to a non-consensual sexual act, no details are given. In a later chapter, there is adult content between to consenting people; if you are under 18 or are offended, don't read. Any comments are welcome.
Author's note: This is set in their junior year, and in this world 'Drake and Josh' was a real show and Miranda Cosgrove was a footnote to kids TV.
Like all great disasters, this one began with seemingly small, unrelated events. A twelve-ounce can of beer, a lie, two cans, a cover-up, another lie, a shot of whiskey…soon so many lies, so much alcohol, so many broken promises that the truth didn't really exist anymore; except as a forgotten dream. The lies litter the mental landscape like so many previous years' leaves; the forgotten friends, dead trees in a decaying forest. Before long, a great tinderbox of emotional deadwood lay, awaiting that one small spark that would set it ablaze.
A storm looms on the horizon, let us hope that there is more rain than lightning.
Sam Puckett crept through the side entrance of Ridgeway High School; hoodie pulled over her head, trying to hide in plain sight. She had been wearing the same clothes all weekend and smelled of cheap beer. The jeans she had on were dirty and torn; her shirt had sweat stains. She was doing her best to keep the peanut butter sandwich down, while her stomach waged open rebellion. She sat on her floor under her open locker, trying to be unseen.
Mondays suck! So does every other day in my life! Sam thought as a pair of Nike's stopped beside her.
"Late night again?" Freddie asked. He felt an ache in his heart seeing her like this. He just didn't know how to help her.
Wincing at the noise, Sam rose from the floor. "I am hung-over, sore, and barely keeping food down. If you don't stop yelling at me, I'm going rip you tongue off like a paper towel." This seemed more threatening because of her calm demeanor.
"Why do you keep doing this to yourself?" Carly asked, handing Sam a large coffee. Freddie had stopped pining over her long ago; she missed it. "You're killing yourself."
"Like anyone would care." Sam risked sipping on the steaming beverage; it slid down her raw throat and the caffeine helped her headache a little. She set the cup in her locker.
"Neither of you two will join me, I have to do this alone."
"Why do it at all?" Freddie asked, "You know what drinking causes from your mom…"
Sam grabbed the taller boy by his jacket and slammed him into the bank of lockers. "You do NOT ever, in you perfect little tick free world, ever mention my mother!"
Even though Freddie had grown to almost 6' 3" and 225 pounds, at that moment, he feared Sam. He saw a look of pure evil in her eyes.
"He's just worried about you. I am too." Carly tried to intervene. "You're out of control. You skip school a lot, and when you do show up, you look like a hobo. You miss 'iCarly' rehearsals and shows all the time."
"Then replace me!" Sam roared, then regretted it, as her head threatened to explode. She slid back to the floor "Gibby would love to have my spot."
"I don't want a replacement, I want my best friend back." Carly pleaded.
"Sorry, Sam's gone." She tried to joke; "I'm the left-over crap. Where's my coffee?"
"Here." Freddie handed her the cup.
"Thanks, Fredweird." She said as she pulled out a bottle of saline.
"When did you get contacts?" Freddie asked.
"Not for my eyes." She squeezed some of the liquid into her coffee and swished it around.
"What's that smell?" Carly asked, as the fumes hit her nose.
"Grandpa Puckett's white lightning. After she sipped the adulterated beverage, she held it towards Freddie, "Want some?"
"No. Football team does random drug tests. I finally convince my mom to let me play, I'm not risking my spot."
"No thank you." Carly said, before Sam could offer.
"More for me." She downed half the 24-ounce cup in one sip. "How did you convince your control freak mom to let you go out for the football team?"
"Aren't you worried about getting busted?" Carly looked around like she was robbing the Fort Knox.
"Nope." Sam only worried about the next sip. "This makes me feel good, and that's all I care about."
"How can you say that it makes you feel good when you look like shit?" Freddie asked, his vocabulary having been expanded by the rest of the football team.
If you only knew Freddie, you wouldn't ask me that. She wanted to tell him, but remained silent. Sam stood up and was about to drink her coffee when Miss Briggs walked past and grabbed it from her.
"You can't have coffee in school, besides you little monsters don't need to be anymore hyper." She took a swallow, then spit it out. "What is in this, crap?"
"Nothing, now gimme my coffee back!" Sam lunged for the coffee cup. She got one hand on the smaller teacher.
"Attacking teachers, a new low for you, Puckett." Mr. Howard grabbed Sam.
"GET THE HELL OFF ME!! NO!!!" Sam howled in fear. She was wild with terror, kicking and swinging at anything that moved. "NO, I SAID STOP! DON'T TOUCH ME! STOP! STOP TOUCHING ME!" Sam didn't even sound like she was fighting Mr. Howard. As she fought him, she started crying.
As Sam swung at Howard, out of instinct, Briggs threw the coffee cup at Sam, forgetting it was hot. The house blend blinded Sam, making her thrashings even wilder.
"Hold this." Freddie handed Carly his backpack and stepped towards Sam. He grabbed the back of Mr. Howard's coat and pulled him off Sam, who was still blinded by the coffee. Sam was flailing wildly still fighting the attacker in her mind. He watched her slowing down, then quickly moved behind her and wrapped her up in a bear hug. He put his head next to hers, so she couldn't head-butt him, and softly sang to her. Sam stopped struggling and relaxed into Freddie's hold. He slid down the front of the lockers, while he soothed the enraged Sam. After a minute, Freddie looked at the sleeping girl in his arms and then at Ms. Briggs. He said nothing, but his look could have split rock. Gently, he lifted Sam and turned towards the office. Briggs tried to stop him. Still glaring, he issued a single word; "MOVE!"
"What's going on?!" Principal Franklin asked as he rounded the corner. Carly motioned for him to calm down. He saw Freddie carrying Sam; her face red with a burn. He quickly took control. "Freddie bring Sam to my office, Carly get the nurse; Howard, Briggs incident reports, now."
"That little hellion attacked us for no reason! I want her expelled!" Howard coughed from the floor, "And he threw me down the hall!"
"Larry, shut up while you still have your job." Principal Franklin had Sam's home number on speed dial…no answer. He left a message to call him at the school. Franklin knew that Spencer had been given limited guardianship, so he tried the Shay's house.
"What up?"
"Spencer, this is Ted Franklin, there's been an incident at school…"
"Is Carly okay? What happened?"
"She's fine, it's Sam. Can you come down to the school? I'll explain everything then."
"I'm on my way."
Sam snuggled down farther into the softness; for the first time in a while she felt safe. She mumbled. "Is this heaven?"
"Not quite." She heard a male voice, but her eyes were not working.
"Stay back. PLEASE! NO MORE!!" Sam was getting ramped up; she pulled herself into a tight ball. Using her feet, she pushed herself into the corner of the couch.
"Sam, it's Spencer." She felt the couch settle next to her; out of instinct she reached for him.
"Why can't I see?" She slowly reached for her face with her other hand. She touched the bandages and started to get scared. "Am I blind?"
"No, the nurse covered your eyes with some gauze and burn ointment. We'll have her come down and check you, Ms. Clark, to my office." She could hear Franklin's strong, measured tone. "You wanna tell me what happened?
"After the nurse is gone. I don't want too many people to hear this." Sam seemed confused, "Could I have some water? Please?"
"Should I call Mr. Blunden down?" He was referring to the guidance counselor. Spencer put a paper cup in her hand.
"I don't know him. I trust you. And Spencer."
"Well Sam, I trust him. Besides, he knows more about getting help than I do. You can ask him to leave anytime you want."
"Okay." Sam meekly said. Spencer thought she looked smaller, not physically, but she was not the big tough Sam he knew. Sam's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Where's Carly, and Freddie?"
"In class. You've been asleep on that couch for nearly an hour. Freddie almost punched Mr. Howard. The only thing that stopped him was me telling him that it wouldn't help you." Sam heard someone enter the room.
"Who's there?" She was getting scared, "You called my mom and she sent Simon! Don't let him near me, please Spencer. I'd rather die, than go with him!"
Spencer felt his hand being crushed, "Sam, that's my sculpting hand. It's the nurse. You're breaking my hand."
"Sorry, Spencer. I can't see and I'm scared." Spencer knew she had to be really afraid of this man, whoever he was.
"It's okay Sam, I'm going turn off the lights and unwrap your bandages." Sam felt the bandages being unrolled and could make out some rough shapes.
"This might sting some." The nurse said as she turned on her pen light. The small beam momentarily blinded Sam. She rapidly blinked away the brightness.
"Ted, lights." The whole room lit up. "Which fingers am I holding up?"
"Thumb, pointer, and little." Sam answered.
"I don't think that there's any permanent damage, just a little redness. You're lucky."
"Why don't I feel like it?"
"Use these drops if you get a burning sensation." The nurse handed her a small bottle of eye drops. "I dumped that bottle of expired saline out."
"That wasn't saline." Sam was getting a noticeable shake in her hand.
"I know." Franklin had been silent during the exam.
"Can I come in?" The guidance councilor asked. "I'm Mr. Blunden." He shook hands with Spencer and Sam. "You her brother?"
"Friend of the family. I have limited guardianship."
"Well, this is for family and school officials only, so…" Sam cut him off.
"You'll leave before Spencer does." Sam nearly shouted.
"Quite a mouth on this one." Sam winced at the statement. Simon had said that to her once.
"Dennis, maybe I should start." Principal Franklin intervened. "Sam, I have incident reports from Carly, Fred, Howard, and Briggs; wanna tell me your side of what happened?"
"Briggs took my coffee and I tried to get it back and Howard attacked me…" Sam was near tears. "Then I woke up here. I don't remember anything." She heard a grunt of disbelief from Blunden. "Really! All I wanted was my coffee."
"Wanna tell me about the moonshine in the squeeze bottle?" Blunden asked.
"No." Sam looked him over, "You a cop?"
"Not any more. I got shot."
"Who is this 'Simon' that you're so afraid of?" Franklin asked.
Sam felt Spencer sitting there, just letting her hold his hand, like she needed. She didn't have a brother; she always envied Carly for having Spencer. "My mom, she has a new boyfriend. His brother showed up about a month ago and started hitting on me. I told him to fuck off, he said something like 'love to'. He's been trying to sneak into my room, touching on me…" Spencer handed her a rag from his pocket. "Then last Thursday, we were eating diner and I think he spiked my peppie cola cause I got really tired and …and …um…"
"He forced himself on you?" Principal Franklin asked. Sam gave the smallest of nods.
"I read your file, You have a list of rule violations as long as my arm." Sam decided this guy was an asshole. "I think you just got drunk and went off on your teachers."
"HE RAPED ME!"
"Have you bathed since then?" Sam could barely nod. "There goes any DNA…"
"I'm sorry you lost your DNA!" Sam was panicking, "I lost what was left of my life. It wasn't much, but it was all I had! Do you know what it's like to spend hours in a shower, scrubbing until your skin's bleeding? You run all the hot water out, but you keep washing cause you still feel dirty. I know I made mistakes, but I'm not making this up."
"We believe you Sam. It's just without any DNA or something, it's your word verses his." Franklin tried to calm her.
"I still have to report your drinking."
"You said I could trust him!" Sam was getting wild eyed and bordering on hyperventilating. Her 'fight or flight' was kicking in. "You lied to me!" She made for the door.
Grabbing here wrist, "Not until we're…" Blunden was cut off by Sam's fist.
Her eyes showed no emotion at all as she repeatedly struck the overweight man. "I-said-don't-touch-me." She punched him between words.
"Sam, STOP!" Spencer pulled her off. In her mind, Simon was attacking her, and she reacted with a kick to the head.
"OH SHIT! Spencer, I'm sorry." Sam was snapped back to reality. Spencer didn't move or make a sound. Principal Franklin slowly moved to tend to Spencer, not wanting to spook Sam.
"I'm soooo sorry, Spencer." She was trying to keep the tears at bay. "When he wakes up, tell him... I didn't… I didn't mean to hurt him and tell Carly that she was a better friend than I deserved."
"What are you going to do?" Franklin didn't like her tone. "You're not thinking of doing something drastic?"
"I'm going home and try to stop this monster."
"Do you want someone to go with you?"
"No, thank you." She paused in the doorway, "Ted, I'm sorry I made your job so rough."
Sam took off in a full sprint, knowing that she only had a few minutes before he would call the cops.
"Call the nurse and an ambulance." Principal Franklin ordered the secretary, as he pressed the send button on the school's public address system.